About this ebook
THE HOUSE OF ALLERBROOK
By Valerie Anand
A novel of Exmoor.
In this rich portrait of an indomitable woman, Valerie Anand crafts an epic tale of sixteenth–century life in an England at a crossroads: poised between Reformation, Restoration and ruin.
Lady–in–waiting Jane Sweetwater's resistance to the legendary attentions of Henry VIII may have saved her pretty neck, but her reward is a forced and unhappy marriage with a much older man and a harsh life on his farm. Her only consolation is that she still lives upon her beloved Exmoor, the bleak yet beautiful land that cradles Allerbrook House, her family home.
Played out in this remote, forbidding place, Jane's long and storied life is fraught with change: her fiercely protective nature leads her to assume responsibility not only for her own husband and child, but also for the rebellious son of her wayward sister. In time, she regains the position of a woman with status and property, but she cannot ignore the rumblings from London, as the articles of faith change with every new coronation.
Jane's small world is penetrated by plotting, treachery and even thwarted love as those she holds dearest are forced to choose between family loyalty and fealty to the crown.
About the author
Born in London, Valerie Anand knew at the age of six that she wanted to be an author. At the age of fifteen, she saw MGM's film Ivanhoe. She walked into the cinema knowing that she wanted to be a novelist and walked out of it knowing that historical novels were the kind she most wanted to write. Over the course of her long and distinguished writing career, Valerie has written many works of historical fiction and is well known for the Ursula Blanchard series of Elizabethan mysteries written under the pen name of Fiona Buckley. Still living in London, Valerie Anand is a frequent visitor to Exmoor, the setting featured in The House of Lanyon.